Why The Brooklyn Nets Should Re-Sign Jahlil Okafor

Since then, Okafor has seen minutes on a semi-regular basis for the Brooklyn Nets. But much like his play, his minutes have been up-and-down.

This season with the Nets, Okafor is averaging 13 minutes per game. In those 13 minutes, he’s averaging 6.2 points and three rebounds. This is a far cry from the rookie who played 30 minutes per game for Philadelphia and averaged 17.5 points and seven rebounds.

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The goal for the Nets when they acquired Okafor was to develop the former Duke Blue Devil along with the rest of their young players and make him a formidable part of the rotation. But Okafor’s production has been mediocre to say the least. Brooklyn has only seen glimpses of what was once the top rated prospect in all of basketball.

This off season, Okafor will hit the free agent market. The Nets can only offer him $6.3 million over one year, which was the Sixers team-option that they declined.

Despite his performance in Brooklyn thus far, the Nets should absolutely re-sign Okafor. He’s still only 22-years-old and was the third-overall draft pick in 2015. Despite his significant defensive struggles, he is the most talented big-man the Nets have offensively by far.

Traditional centers that can score the basketball at will should be highly valued in today’s game. However, the competition for Okafor’s services isn’t expected to be stiff, so the Nets should be able to re-sign him.

With that being said, Okafor needs to improve on defensively and with his overall effort level. The Nets are hoping that with a full off season, training camp, and time to improve his conditioning, he can return to the high level of play he reached in his rookie campaign with the 76ers.

Only time will tell, but expect Jahlil back in Kings County next year.